The Massachusetts Ocean Partnership is developing and applying several
tools to support decision making during the implementation of and
updates to the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. The tools include
the Cumulative Impacts model and an ecosystem services tradeoff model
developed by the University of California at Santa Barbara, the MIMES
ecosystem service model developed by the University of Vermont and
Boston University, and the MIDAS decision support interface developed by
Boston University. This webinar will provide an overview of these
tools, why they were selected, a demonstration of draft and final
products, and how they are being applied in Massachusetts. We will also
provide some lessons and recommendations for their continued
development and potential application within the marine spatial planning
context. Learn more about the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership and its
work at http://massoceanpartnership.org/.

mimesappliedtothemassachussetsoceanicpartnership-ebmwebinarthursoct131https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/87103073869473481202011-10-12T17:15:23.417Z2011-10-12T17:18:32.484Z2011-10-12T17:18:32.483ZAFORDable Futures participates in REDD+ Workshop in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) convened this workshop
to facilitate the use of integrated modeling to inform and improve
local, regional and national policy decisions relevant to climate change
adaptation and mitigation strategies.
The workshop purpose was to:

Bring together empirical scientists, modelers, economists,
social scientists, and public policy experts to help ensure that model
development aligns with climate change policy design, management and
decision-making needs.

Connect the climate change data producers with the climate
change data users. Make existing resources accessible to stakeholders
in the field.

afordablefuturessupportsepamodelingworkshop2https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/3223416140724668582011-05-09T12:27:39.313Z2011-05-09T12:30:25.369Z2011-05-09T12:30:25.344ZNWF Pushes to Abandon GDP as Measure of Economy.

nwfpushestoabandongdpasmeasureofeconomy1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/7330902978064971372011-04-28T21:48:31.267Z2011-04-28T21:51:48.354Z2011-04-28T21:51:48.352ZPUMA to Assess Ecosystem Impacts of Business

Puma is looking at both the impact of its direct operations and its supply chain, and plans to issue an environmental profit and loss statement based on its findings. The company commissioned the help of Trucost and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Because the concept of ecosystem services covers such a wide swath, investigating one's impacts on ecosystems and also tying a value to those impacts poses a huge challenge to companies, especially for those that are already struggling with getting greenhouse gas emission data from their suppliers. The benefits to companies, though, can be just as big as the undertaking needed to measure them. A company can be better positioned to alter its most damaging work and even improve other aspects of its supply chain to boost the value of ecosystems it operates in. Such work can also ensure a company secures access to the services it needs — like clean water — for years to come. Read more.

"Value: Counting Ecosystems as Water Infrastructure" offered by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature, is a practical guide
explaining the most important techniques for the economic valuation of
ecosystem services, and how their results are best incorporated in
policy and decision-making. The guide explains, step by step, how to
generate persuasive arguments for more sustainable and equitable
development decisions in water resources management. Read more.

"The idea
that declining diversity compromises the functioning of ecosystems was
controversial for many years," says marine ecologist, Emmett Duffy of
the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. "This paper should be the
final nail in the coffin of that controversy. It's the most rigorous and
comprehensive analysis yet, and it clearly shows that extinction of
plant species compromises the productivity that supports Earth's
ecosystems." Read more.

linkbetweenplantbiodiversityandecosystemservices1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/46489434807194385182011-02-24T17:10:14.164Z2011-02-24T17:14:00.062Z2011-02-24T17:14:00.060ZEnvironmental Sustainability is the New Economic Bottom Line

Read a review of "Accounting for Sustainability" a report summarizing results from a five-year project supported by Prince Charles of England. The goal of the project was to determine the feasibility of factoring industries’ impact on the environment into their economic spreadsheets. Read the full article here.

landtrustgrowsinpacificnorthwest1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/68403608866274607882011-02-20T15:50:10.003Z2011-02-20T16:01:17.491Z2011-02-20T16:01:17.426ZIntergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to be Created

Environment ministers from around the world will
meet in Nairobi next week to discuss how to set up the Intergovernmental
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), inspired by a
U.N. panel on climate change. Read the full story.

intergovernmentalplatformonbiodiversityandecosystemservicesipbestobecreated1https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/66243611973496515982011-02-17T19:06:03.442Z2011-02-17T19:15:44.676Z2011-02-17T19:15:44.671ZUpcoming Webinar on the MIMES hosted by Ecosystem Based Management Tools - March 15th!

Demonstration of Multi-scale
Integrated Models of Ecosystem Services (MIMES) by Roel Boumans and
David McNally of AFORDable Futures LLC (March 15 at 3 pm US EDT/Noon US
PDT/7 pm GMT). The
Multi-scale Integrated Models of Ecosystem Services (MIMES) is a suite
of models for land use change and marine spatial planning decision
making. The models quantify the effects of land and sea use change on
ecosystem services and can be run at global, regional, and local levels.
The MIMES use input data from GIS sources, time series, etc. to
simulate ecosystem components at under different scenarios defined by
stakeholder input. These simulations can help stakeholders evaluate how
development, management and land/sea use decisions will affect natural,
human and built capital. Building interactive databases for regional,
integrated decision making is an important aspect of implementing
MIMES. MIMES has been developed in collaboration with a large
international group of scientists and resources managers. This on-going
work is archived at a Google Code site. Learn more about MIMES at www.uvm.edu/giee/mimes or www.afordablefutures.com/services/mimes. Register for the webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/907465801.

learnaboutthemimesonecosystembasedmanagementtoolswebinar-march15th2https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/6141395216345167282011-01-28T21:01:18.327Z2011-01-28T21:39:54.832Z2011-01-28T21:39:54.831ZAFORDable Futures now on YouTube

YouTube Video

afordablefuturesnowonyoutube3https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/23730183910903391212011-01-04T16:11:19.226Z2011-01-04T16:27:52.188Z2011-01-04T16:27:52.185ZAFORDable Futures & Earth Economics support ecosystem service valuation for the Tulalip Tribe

We spent some of the middle of December working with Earth Economics in a workshop for the Tulalip Tribe in Washington state. The Workshop, dubbed Carbonfinity, was designed to look
at carbon management on the tribal lands and how the MIMES tool could be used to synthesize previously developed modeling tools to aid in ecosystem management.

AFORDable Futures recently gave a slide show presentation on the role of biodiversity in ecosystem/landscape modeling at the RECN Conference - Sep 17-19, Montreal.

The Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) facilitates cooperation and
networking among non-profit, non-governmental environmental
organizations across Canada and internationally. Since 1977, we have been enabling and enhancing our members' work of protecting, conserving, restoring and promoting a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.

AFORDable Futures will be participating in the upcoming COMPASS (Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea) training Dec 2 & 3 in Washington, DC. The focus of the workshop is entitled "Communication Ecosystem Service Science to Decision Makers". COMPASS works to advance marine conservation science and to ensure science is communicated to policymakers, the public and the media. COMPASS provides ocean scientists with the communications tools and platforms needed to ensure their science is shared in a credible and neutral manner.Follow this link for more infomration on COMPASS.

Check out Post Carbon Institute's - "The Post Carbon Reader". You can download chapters of the book on the web or purchase it from their website. "A must-read collection by some of the world’s most provocative thinkers on the key issues shaping our new century".

These are databases managed by the US Census Bureau which collect economic data down to a county level. We are working to both systematize ecosystem services into a clear/specific classification system and then linking this to these datasets. A discussion on this will be happening during the forthcoming ACES Meeting in December in Phoenix, Arizona.

Keep an eye out at the meeting for details!

integratingecosystemservicesintonaicsnacps3https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/62223491798440653512010-11-05T19:00:05.424Z2010-11-05T19:01:53.510Z2010-11-05T19:01:53.509ZPush for REDD+ Concensus leading up to the COP 16

Check out this interesting video story on water scarcity, climate change, and conflicts produced by the Yale School of Forestry and the Environmental Studies. It highlights the complexities of international politics, disaster risk reduction, and the need for integrated ecosystem services analysis. Read more.

Nagoya, Japan, October 28, 2010 –
The World Bank today announced a new global partnership that will give
developing countries the tools they need to integrate the economic
benefits that ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and coral reefs
provide, into national accounting systems.The
goal is to introduce the practice of ecosystem valuation into national
accounts at scale so that better management of natural environments
becomes “business as usual”. read more...

worldbankannouncesnewglobalpartnershipforecosystemservicesaccounting2https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/27646433231895969592010-11-04T15:27:24.222Z2010-11-04T16:09:11.363Z2010-11-04T16:09:11.362ZWorld Business Council for Sustainable Development links Biodiversity to Business

worldbusinesscouncilforsustainabledevelopmentlinksbiodiversitytobusiness5https://sites.google.com/feeds/content/afordablefutures.com/afordable-futures-llc/31063586592621588532010-11-04T15:53:01.477Z2010-11-04T16:07:26.477Z2010-11-04T16:07:26.476ZJob Opportunity with World Resources Institute